Mark's Notebook


	Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. - Proverbs 16:8

Worship as Higher Politics

Christianity Today editorial

Thursday 23 June 2005, 2:15 pm
Keywords: Christian Topics , News Articles

Political priorities for citizens of the kingdom.

George W. Bush is not Lord. The Declaration of Independence is not an infallible guide to Christian faith and practice. "Original intent" of America's founders is not the hermeneutical key that will guarantee national righteousness. The American flag is not the Cross. The Pledge of Allegiance is not the Creed. "God Bless America" is not the Doxology.

Sometimes one needs to state the obvious—especially at times when it's less and less obvious.

In the heat of partisan politics (out of which many overstatements and misunderstandings arise), we are tempted to forget that the most potent political act—the one act that deeply manifests and really empowers a "kind and noble society"—is the worship of Jesus Christ.

In worship we signal who is the Sovereign, not of just this nation, but of heaven and Earth. In worship we gather to be formed into an alternate polis, the people of God. It is here that we proclaim that a new political order—the kingdom of heaven—has been preached and incarnated by the King of Kings.

Richard John Neuhaus put it this way: "Jesus Christ is Lord. That is the first and final assertion Christians make about all of reality, including politics."

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas said in a recent interview: "Christians' first political responsibility is to be the church, and by being the church they should understand that their first political loyalty is to God ... we are not first and foremost about making democracy work, but about the truthful worship of the true God."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/007/16.22.html